I am thinking about creating a new item of the day sort of thing. It seems virtually everyday I see something that makes me smile. When I was in New York, there were things like this all the time. Virtually a constant stream of interesting people, crazy clothing, beautiful site or genuinely sweet acts. But here, because my life consists in a strange bubble where I drive to work, work in an office with very few coworkers, drive home, and maybe go out for a few hours, I don't interact with as many potentially smile worthy people and events. But they still happen. And maybe it's time I remind myself (and you all) that Dallas can be enjoyable even in the minutae.

To kick off this idea, I will tell you about what I found when I got home from work yesterday...

On Sunday, I bought three pumpkins to put in front of my house, under a big tree in my front yard. They looked very nice in an understated, appropriate way. I was pleased. Monday morning, I noted that the pumpkins were still there, although I couldn't see them well through the split in the tree. Monday evening, when I got home, I decided to walk into the street to see how they looked from there. When I got to the street and turned around, I noticed what appeared to be yellow patches on each of the pumpkins. As I walked closer, I realized they were bite marks! Something was eating my pumpkins!

There seems to be a squirrel family that lives in this tree. They run around, and as my mother says, have a party, dropping leaves all over the driveway and generally making a mess. Apparently, not only do my squirrels like tulip bulbs for a midnight snack (which they chose to eat last January) but pumpkins as well. And the funny part is, they had taken bites out of each one! Almost as though they were checking to see if one tasted better than the others!

Quite cute, in a "You Just Cost Me $8.00 in Eaten Pumpkins" sort of way.